Baldwin's Tracy Roberts, Mobile's Herndon Inge face off Tuesday in only state school board contest

These are undated photos of Republican Tracy Roberts, left, of Spanish Fort, Ala., who faces Democrat Herndon Inge, right, of Mobile, Ala., in the District 1 state school board. Voters in part of south Alabama will be the only ones deciding a contested race for the State Board of Education on Nov. 6 because the other three school board races have already been determined. Republican Tracy Roberts of Spanish Fort faces Democrat Herndon Inge of Mobile in District 1. That's a heavily Republican area that includes all or parts of Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia, Covington, Conecuh, Crenshaw and Butler counties. The winner will replace Republican Randy McKinney of Gulf Shores, who did not seek another four-year term. (AP Photo)The Associated Press

MOBILE, Alabama -- Republican Tracy Roberts and Democrat Herndon Inge will face each other Tuesday, in the only state school board seat that’s being contested.

That’s the redrawn District 1, which includes western Mobile County and all of Baldwin, Escambia, Covington, Conecuh, Crenshaw and Butler counties.

The winner will replace Randy McKinney, who decided not to run.

Roberts, who has served on the Baldwin County school board since 2004, said her experience on the local board has prepared her to deal with the issues that the state board faces.

But Inge, a political newcomer who lives in midtown Mobile, says his experience facing controversies as a lawyer has prepared him for public office.

”I am battle tested. I’m strong,” Inge said. “What you need up there is somebody who’s a leader, a proven leader, who is strong, assertive, and calls it like they see it, and that’s me.”

Inge said public school funding is in jeopardy under the current Legislature. He opposes allowing charter schools, vouchers or anything else that he said would take funding away from traditional public schools. “It’s time for me to protect the public schools that gave me a great education, “ the Murphy High graduate said.

He’d like to reduce the drop-out rate by having more schools model a program being used now in Dothan, where administrators won't approve a student dropping out until a student takes the GED exam to see if they can pass it, meets with a counselor and writes an essay about what life will be like without a diploma.

And he said he’d like to strengthen and grow the two-year college system, and form more partnerships with industry to better train the workforce.

Roberts, of Spanish Fort, said the biggest challenges schools are facing these days are funding and getting buy-in from the community. Schools have suffered state budget cuts every year since 2008.

“I think it’s a very exciting time for education in Alabama, with our new superintendent and with leadership in the Legislature and from our governor,” Roberts said. “I think we have an opportunity for real reform and progress in education, and I really want to make a difference for all the kids in Alabama, not just Baldwin County.”

Roberts has also said she would like to work to improve the graduation rate, and to better prepare the workforce.That could be done, in part, by better funding the Alabama Reading Initiative and the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, she said.

She said she believes in public education and knows the subject well. “I have spent time working on and studying education, so I think that makes me qualified,” she said. Working on the Baldwin County board has helped her learn how to work together and build consensus. She said she favors a transparent school board.

Going to the state level, she said, “I’ll be able to give an opinion on how what they do affects the local school board, and on how it affects the classroom.”

Roberts defeated Jessica James in the Republican primary in June. The Democratic Party voted to include Inge on the ballot as its representative after party’s original candidate, Cecil Gardner, decided not to run.

Roberts has worked as a substitute teacher and sales associate. She graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in communications. She is married and has five children.

Inge, who graduated from Sewanee and who has a law degree from Cumberland, is married and has two children.

Besides the governor and state schools superintendent, there are seven elected members of the state school board, which supervises Alabama's K-12 schools and two-year colleges. Three or four of the seats come up for election every two years.